Adjustable shelf support



Sep't. 4, 1928.

E. R. ARMSTRONG ADJUSTABLE SHELF SUPPORT Filed Deb. l0, 1926IIIIIIIlHlHuN IHPhIUINIHIIh HhIHIHhUn" I Patented sept. 4,1928.

UNITED STATES 'incazza PArENTfoFFic-E.

:EDWARD n. ARMSTRONG, or COLUMBUS, crab, AssIGNoR Tor. oscHOEnINGEB, or

l coLUMBUaonIo.

,.'Angrus'mmn s nnnr surron'r. n

Application lled December 10, 1926. Serial No. 153,789.

vrlhis invention relates to an improved adjustable shelf Wherein'isprovided al1-improved mounting by which the shelf canbe retained inconnection with an associated supporting member `:for swxnglng movementabout a substantially horizontal ax1s and also raised and lowered bodilyifor operation in for association with a cabinet or table of they typeused particularly in hospitals orv bed rooms, and by means of Whichftheshell means., when actively positioned, will bel formed to occupy asubstantially horizontal Aplane of suiiicient height to extend Aover abed or the like but independently oi the latf ter, 'and whereby when thesheli2 is inactively r" positioned, the same will be capable of'assuming a folded positionlying contiguous to one of the side walls ofthe table or cabinet carrying the same in order to occupy but a sminimum oi space when not lin use. 'An-- other object of ^the inventionrests 1n the provision of an adjustable shelf otthis charjustment.

acter wherein is provided an improved means for facilitating thevertical adjustment 'of the shelf and Jfor locking automatically theshelie in its various positions of vertical nad- A 'further object ofthe invention resides inthe provision of a structure which may beoperated entirely by the hands of the. attendant and Without resort tothe use of foot controls, or other involved mechanical locking' andreleasing means.-

With these and other objects in vievv, as

will appear as the description proceeds, the invention, consists in thenovel features ofv construction, combinations of elements andarrangements of parts hereinafter tolbe fully described and pointed outin the appended claims.

n'the accompanying drawing: f

' Figure 1 is a pian viewof a-bed sidev table constructed in accordanceWith the present 'active orextended position,

.to the lovver end of Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional viewtaken through the adjustable supporting` means for the shelf member,

' Figure 4: is a horizontal sectional view on theline dell of Figure 3,and Figure 5 is a similar View on the line 5`5 oiFigueg..

Re siding more particularly to' the draw.-

-infg` the numeral l designates the improved 4bed side table in itsentirety., The table is preferably formed to includea sheet metalcabinet unit 2, portably mounted upon caster Wheels 3, the cabinet beingformed to in clude a substantially plane top d and'similar side. `Walls5, there being dej'oendingv legs 6 fastened.

Connect/ed With the cabinet unitol a table lisan adjustableshelffjivhich is so mounted that when in active operation thesame willopcupy the horizontal plane disclosed in lull lines in Figures i and 2,and when inactively positioned the same is adapted to be folded andvlovyered so as to occupy substantially the positiondisclosed in brokenlines in Figure 2, 1n which the shell: will lie closely adjacent totheside'vvall ofthe cabinet and inP .a folded and out ci the 'Wayposition.v i

To edect the support of the shellEV and to permit ofi its adjustment asindicatedone which the Wheels d Vare sie of the side Walls 5 isvprovided with a pair of vertically spaced and ,aligned bearing yolzes 8,in which is slidably mounted for vertical adjustment a channelmember orsupport 9; Also secured to the Wall 5 in prominent relationtherewith',and situated between the4 Sti yokesB, isa rack bar i0, with which nis engaged the 'teeth otra pinion il rotatably a mounted on a horizontalshaft 12,7carried by the supportv 9.

The upper end oi? the support 9 is pro-a vided with a-head'l, Which'ispermanently tov one side'therof as `indicated at i4.' This vsecured tosaid support andpr'ojects laterally 'l 95' 'laterally projecting-portion 6i the head is` -f formed iso-include curved edges 15,` in theaxis-of which is arranged a stationary Pin: 5

axis of the pin 16 is a forwardly directed1 arm 17,'wh`ich is attachedinany suitable -161 Pivotally mounted to swingQabout the v manner to theIncer side, ofthe swinging i shelf 7 so as to effect the pivotal supportof said shelf and to allow the same tol move in 'arc of substantially 90degrees and in a vertical lane. 4

' Slidab y mounted in the arm 17 is a latch -rod 18, which has its innerend terminated to provide a transversely extending portion 13,whichextends through slots 20, formed in the inner end of thearln 17,there beingy a spring 21 around the rod- 18v which serves normally tomaintain the portion 19 inengagement with or toward the inner end of theslots 20. The portion 19 of the rod extends laterally beyond each sideof the arm '17 and is adapted to engage with the curved edg 15 of thehead 13. It will be seen that when the shelf has vbeen moved to assume ahorizontal position, the portion 19 of the rods 18 will -be forced bythe action of the spring 21 into locking recesses 22 provided in thehead 13, whereby the shelf is retained in its horizontal position andadapted to rei 'eeive and support articles of any description. When itis desired to lower the shelf the outer end of the rod 18 is grasped andpulled longitudinally, which releases the' portion 19 from engagementwith the recesses 22 and allows the shelf to swing downwardly. Y

In addition to -this adjustment and locking means, provision is made forpermitting. of the vertical adjustment of the shelf. This isaccomplished by providing the support 9 with the pinion 11, which is jinengagement with the rack bar 1 0. Thus,-

ter being to force the lower end of the rod 23 into engagement with andbetween the teeth ofthe pinion 11, in order to prevent rotation of saidpinion and to thereby retain the adjustment of the shelf support. Thepinion, however, can be released by elevating the rod 23, and this isaccomplished by manually' grasping the projecting handle end 27 of therod which extends outwardly to the head- 13.

operation, assuming that the shelf is 1n its lowered and collapsedposition, as` in-v dicated by dotted lines in Figure V2, it is nrymerely in order to extend theshelf, to grasp the upper vend of the lockrod 23. Then, by exerting an upward pull the lower end of said rod isreleased from engagement with the pinion so as to allow n the latter tovrotate freely on the rock bar 10. This, then, permits 'the shelf.support to be raised to any desired helght within pinion and to therebyretain the support in` its adjusted position. Then, by grasping theouter end of the shelf the latter may be swung about the axis of the pin16 to assume a substantially horizontal position, and, of course,retained in such position by the engagement of the lateralportions 19 ofthe rod 18 with the recesses 22.l Of course, in collapsing the table theprocedure as` above given is reversed. It will be understood, of course,that the head, 13 is provided with a stationary lifting lhandle 28,which is arranged adjacent to the upper end of the rod 23, so that theoperator in raising or lowering the support may conveniently grasp theexposed end of the lock rod,

govern the rotation v 23 so as to conveniently or locking of the pinion11.

In view of themforegoing it will be seen that the presentinventionprovides a table especially adapted for use in hospitals or*for other bed side purposes and one wherein the construction is such asto permit an attendant with the use of one hand to raise or lower theadjustable shplf and adapt the same to the requirements of a patientreclining on an adjoining bed. The construction hasthe advantage ofbeing of strong lightweight construction and capable of beingconveniently adjusted and positively retained in adjusted positions. Itwill of course be understood that various changes may be made in theconstruction of the table as hereinldisclosed without departing from thescope and substance of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus of the character set forth, a support, a standardmounted for vertical adjustment in connection with said support, a shelfcarried by said standard, a rack bar, stationarily secured to saidsupport adjacent to said standard, a pinion rotatably carried by saidstandard and engaging the teeth of said rack bar, and manually operatedmeans for controlling the rotation of said inion.

2. n apparatus of the character set forth, a support inclnding'a sidewall, a vertically disposed standard, a Vshelf pivotally connected withsaid standard,A means for retaining said shelf in a plane perpendicularto said standard, a rack carried by. said side wall, a pinion rotatablymounted within said standard in engagement with said rack, and amanually operated latch engagable with said pinion to controlthe-rotation of the latter.

13. In apparatus of the character set forth, a support including averticalside wall, a

standard slidably mounted in bearings carne ried by said Wall, a shelfcarried by the upper end of said standard, a stationary rack bar carriedby the side wall of said support, a pinion carried by the standard andmounted for engagement with said rack bar, a spring (pressed latchengaging with said pinion an having an operating handle located abovesaid standard, and a lifting handle secured to the upper end of saidstandard located above and adjacent to the 10 operating handle of saidspring pressed latch.

- In testimony whereof I affix m signature.

EDWARDAR. VARM TRONG.

